Electric plug



Sept. 1 l,- 1928.

w. ILE- ELECTRIC PLUG Filed March 19. 1925 anoentoz Grimm Mp Patented Sept. 1-1, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM ILE, OF LITTLE rams, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TOILEITE ELECTRIC MANU- FAGTURING CORPORATION, OF TUCKAI-IOE, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 01? NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC PLUG.

Application filed March 19, 1925. Serial No. 16,607.

This invention pertains to electric plugs which are particularly adapted for making an electrical connection with heating devices,

such, for example, as fiat-irons.

One form of separable plug for providing an electrical connection with the heating element of a flat-iron embodies a pair of cooperating sections which house spaced contact plates. Theseplatesareelectricallyconnected to a cord which leads from the plug adjacent the central portion thereof. The outer end of the plug is usually close to the metallic guard on the iron. wherefore the user is in danger of being burned by contact with the metallic guard when the plug is removed. Accordingly, the tendency for the user is to grasp the cord and to remove the plug by pulling outwardly on the cord. Such treatment frequently results in breaking the insulation and causing a short-circuit within the plug.

Oneofthe objects ofmy invention is to overcome the difficulty mentioned by the provision of means for enabling the plug to be readily detached from a flat-iron or other electric device without damaging the cord, and without disturbing the electrical connection between the conductors within the cord, and the contact plates within the plug. In this connection, my invention contemplates an arrangement which eliminates the necessity for the usual coil of spring wire adjacent the outer end of the plug for protecting the cord by preventing it from bending too abruptly.

A further object of my invention is the provision of spring contact terminals within a lug so constructed thatthey may make effhctive connection with contact points of various cross sections whereby one plug may function for various makes of flat-irons and other devices.

My invention is illustrated in the preferred form in the accompanying drawings and is hereinafter set forth in the following description. The essential characteristics are-summarized in the claims.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a plug made in accordance with my invention; Fig. 2 is a front elevation of one of the sections forming part of the plug illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a view similar to that shown in Fig.2 and illustrating the contact plates in adjusted position and electrical- 1y connected to an electrical conductor; Figs. 4 and 5, and 6, are sections taken on the correspondingly numbered lines in Fig. 3; and Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing a set of contact plates made in accordance with my inand 17 which lead from the respective-plate recesses and meet at a common passageway 18 adjacent the outer end of the plug. A cord illustrated at 20 in Fig. 3, occupies the passageway 18, while electrical conductors 21 and 22 leading therefrom are arranged to occupy the recesses 16 and 17 respectively and to be electrically connected with the contact plates in the usual manner.

' To permit the plug to be readily removed from engagement with a flat-iron, l have shown each section as having a connection 26 which extends outwardly from the body portion of the plug, and which is provided with a protuberance or knob 26 adjacent the extreme outer end thereof. The outer surface of the knob may be roughened, as at 27, to prevent slipping of the fingers when pressure is exerted upon the plug to remove it from engagement with the flat-iron. The protuberance on each section is substantially a hemisphere. Thus when two cooperating sections are brought together, the protuberance on each section coacts with that on the other, to provide a complete knob having approximately the shape of a sphere connected with the body by a reduced neck. This neck is readily straddled by the users fingers, so that the knob provides a natural abutment for enabling the plug to be drawn out.

To prevent movement of the conductors 21 and 22 longitudinally of the plug, 1 have shown the recesses 16 and 17 as having a roughened wall, and I make the depth of the recesses such that the conductors are clamped firmly between the sections whenever the securing members 12 and 13 are actuated to lock the sections together. 1

To furnish a universal type of spring terminal within the plug, I employ a peculiarly formed metal clip which provides a yieldable connection for maintaining an efl'ective- 816C.

trical contact with the conductor disposed As shown in Fig. 2, the sections between the arms of the clip. In the preferred form a strip as shown in Fig. 7 is bent .which functions as a guide in the usual manner. The midportion of each arm is longitudinally corrugated as at 37 to provide a recess for the reception of a. contact post of other than flat form. The space on each side of this recess allows the ready insertion of a flat post. A securing member 32 may serve to maintain the arms together and function as a binding screw for effecting a connector with an electrical conductor.

In view ofthe foregoing description, it will be evident that I have provided a universal detachable plug which is so constructed that the plug may be securely gripped and removed from a flat-iron without endangering the user by contact with the iron. Moreover, it will be apparent that the conductors are maintained in adjusted position within the cooperating sections, thus preventing the electrical connection between the conductors and the contact plates from being detached if the cord is inadvertently pulled.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A device of the character described comprising apair of sections cooperating to form a. housing, each section being formed with a hollow protuberance at one end of 'substa-ntially hemispherical form connected by a neck With the body portion, there being project ing shoulders at opposite sides of the body and-some distance from the opposite end, whereby when said sections are placed facing each other a spherical knob is obtained, separated by said neck and shoulders from the terminal portion of the device, there being passageways in the body leading from said terminal portions .to a single pamge way extending axially through the knob.

2. Ina device of the character described, the combination of a pair of sections cooperating-to form a housing, each section having a hemispherical head with a semi-cylindrical recess axially thereof,gwhereby a spherical knobis provided with a tubular passageway, there being a cavity within the'knob embracing such tubular pasagewa In testimony whereof, I ereunto affix my signature.

WILLIAM ILE. 

